Old school skiing...

I came across this video the other day and I thought I should share it with you guys!!

I think it is amazing how they had freestyle events already in the70's. My personal favorite in this video is the mogul event! Maybe even our own Olympic Champion Alexandre Bilodeau could copy some of their tricks.

P.S. What happend to the ski ballet!?

Talk to you soon.

Jeff

Europa Cup in Italy...

I am in Italy now to be exact in Sarntal. The past few days I have been racing my first Europa Cup speed in a long time.

I joined team TBS once again, hanging out with Hans, Daniel, Romar, Koell and the Coaches Helli, Louis and the Finish b***h Peter Feichter and it has been a lot of fun. 

Hans finished second at the first DH behind Erik Fisher who is racing for the US ski team. 

I was about 2.50 seconds out, the times were really close together so I was quite happy with my performance.

I had a lot of fun doing DH, although I am still missing the final touch to go fast in DH. I am positive that I will get it soon though. 

At the start of the DH, what a great view. 

Hans and my self.

Peter Feichter, the man for everything.

The podium...from the left Hans, Erik, and Zahrobsky.

Getting ready to go rodeling!!!

From the left Romar, Daniel, Alexander Koell, Hans and my self...

Tomorrow we will be racing a Super G and right after that Daniel and my self will head to Austria for some more races.

Cheers and talk to you soon...

Jeff

Helmet artist.

A few weeks a go when I was training and racing in Mont Sainte Anne I noticed that a lot of racers had very interesting and cool designs on their helmets. Close to the designs, or sometimes even hidden in the middle of it, I could see the letters LAU.

After a few days skiing it caught my attention more and more. I really wanted to find out who this was behind all those sweet drawings. It made me want to get a little art work one on my helmet as well. As I was sitting at the dinner table I heard the girls from the Quebec ski team talking about it and it was brought to my ears that LAU was standing for Laurence Vallerand. 

Laurence is a member of the girls Quebec ski team, not can she only ski well but she also has a good hand for drawing, she is quite a talented one!

Laurence does not paint brush helmets, she uses some sort of waterproof glass pen.

I've seen a lot of paint brushed helmets and because of safety reasons it,s not the best. If you get your helmet paint brushed it needs to be sandpapered first which is not good for a helmet.

The cool thing about what Laurence does, is that she can pretty much do any design and finish a helmet in a short amount of time. The drawings will not influence the safety of your helmets at all. The helmet will keep its original color and design and Laurence will work around it.  

This is my helmet!

A few more different designs....

This is Laurence, aka LAU the Artist!!

For anyone that is interested in getting something cool and fun contact her directly at laurence_925@hotmail.com or find her on facebook!!

Cheers,
Jeff

Skiing in Mont Tremblant

The past few days I trained with Jacko Graton, Head coach of the Mont Trembant ski club. He is a great coach with lots of experience and advice.  He has helped me throughout the years.

For most of you, you have no idea who Jacko is , so I thought I would briefly tell you about him.

Jacko is a level IV instructor and level III coach, he was also a ski patrol, he flies planes, has a passion for the outdoors, is a master diver.... and this only to mention a few things that he does. Basically he is one of the most well-rounded people and interesting people you will ever get to meet. He has contributed to the world of skiing in Quebec for a very long time, he was head coach of the Laurentian zone and Quebec ski team and also has help a lot of National team athletes past and present reach their goals.

Therefore he was inducted to the Laurentian Ski Hall of Fame in 2010.

The great mountain, Mont Tremblant.

A part of the training hill.

So to get back to my training, on Wednesday it was just Jacko and I.  Then, for the last couple of days we joined the kids and coaches from the ski club. It was three days of great GS training. I am really happy to have such a great ski club supporting me every time I am back in Tremblant. The coaches are doing a great job, not only on the hill, but also after skiing with great video sessions....

Some guys inspecting the course. 

On the way in the chair with some girls form the ski club.

Thank you for the great week and I will see you soon. 

Jeff

Superbowl 2011...

Yesterday I watched the Superbowl on TV. 

For those of you who do not know much about American tradition, the Superbowl is like the FIFA world cup final but for American football.

The Green Bay Packers played the Pittsburgh Steelers and won 31-25.

This is the stadium where the Superbowl was played yesterday, 100 000 fans got to watch it live and hundred of thousands of people watched it on TV. This is a picture taken prior to the kick off.

It was a really cool event to watch, especially the half time show. Not only did the Black Eyed Peas put on a great show but also the one and only SLASH showed us his skills on his guitar.

Fergie and Slash.

The Superbowl is also known for its great TV commercials. You can look them up on youtube by clicking on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=superbowl+commercials+2011&aq=f

My vote goes to the volkswagen commercial.

Enjoy watching it and talk to you soon.

Frolicking through the snow....

It was a good week for me in Mont-Sainte-Anne to get back on snow. I skied six days in a row, trained and raced three different events. To be exact I raced four races and had two days of Geant-Slalom race training. I am happy to say that I am feeling comfortable on my skis again. I still have  work to do on my gliding part in Downhill but I am confident that it will come back to where it once was.

After spending the week in Mont-Sainte-Anne I was briefly in Montreal for one night, and look at what mother nature brought upon this wonderful city.

This morning I drove to Mont Tremblant where I had a nice and relaxing day off. After I organized my ski training for the up coming week with Jacko Graton ( head coach of the Tremblant ski club ) I went snow shoeing with my girlfriend. We had a great afternoon! 

Hitting the lake.

Some friends where following us.

 Some fun in the snow!!

Taking a break and making a snow angel.

Trying to ski my way back home, but I had to walk!!! The perks of snow shoeing... That is why I love DH skiing.

What a great day it was although I had to walk a lot. 

I am looking forward for the coming week of ski training. I will be training five days of GS here in Tremblant.

Cheers and talk to you soon.

Jeff

P.S.: I learned a new word today.... frolicking. Here is the definition: 1. a light-hearted entertainment or occasion 2. light-hearted activity; gaiety; merriment

Mont Sainte Anne

Last week I left Montreal and headed towards Quebec City. I stopped off at Louis-Pierre's place to see how he was doing. He just had his surgery about a week ago. He is well, up and walking already without crutches.

After I drove to Mont Sainte Anne where I have been training and racing with the Quebec ski team. 

I was for-running a few GS races and raced some SG in the past two days. At the same time I have been trying to ski lots to get milage  under my belt. My body has been holding up really good. The first few days I still felt my knee and groin a bit, but now it is feeling a lot better and I can almost ski pain free, which is something new for me. 

Today I skied my first DH training run in almost two years. ( it is a quite easy DH ) but it was great to be back on the long boards and looking for speed. Tomorrow is another training run and then I will be racing two days of DH. 

Pictures from the past week here in Mont Sainte Anne.

In the morning on the way to the hill.

The top of the course, yes it is really flat!!

The for-runners getting ready to go.

The final pitch of the race course.

View from the start... all the way at the back of the picture you can see Quebec City.

Piotr the comedian and JP, the Quebec men coaches.

The girls waiting for awards!!

Laughing with Piotr...

I will talk to you soon. Stay posted!!!

Jeff